


Lemongrass and Sleep

by kontraklarinette



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Episode: s01e16 Enchanting Grom Fright, F/F, Not sure when this became a skarscha fic but ok, POV First Person, Pining, Unrequited Love, make boscha suffer 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27619193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kontraklarinette/pseuds/kontraklarinette
Summary: Who in their right mind would fall for a human, anyway?
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Amity Blight (one-sided), Boscha/Skara (The Owl House), kind of - Relationship
Comments: 11
Kudos: 130
Collections: Owl House Fics





	1. Chapter 1

Amity Blight is the prettiest girl in all of the Boiling Isles and I will stand by that for the rest of my life.

She’s literally absolutely perfect. She’s got stunning golden eyes and the silkiest-looking mint hair- and yeah, I know her slightly unhinged mother makes her color it that way, but who  _ cares, _ it looks  _ nice, _ and she should be  _ grateful for the compliment. _ Hmph. Anyway, she’s also fantastic at grudgby- she almost pulled off a Thorn Vault one time. Like, seriously? That’s metal. Nobody has that courage. Not even me. She makes me look like a Junior League player next to her, which I only hate a little bit. I would hate it more, but as soon as I start thinking about how much I hate it I get distracted by thoughts of how cute she looks in the Banshees uniform. Then I embarrass myself over the fact that I think that fashion crime of a uniform looks good on  _ anyone _ . But come on, it’s Amity, the smartest and most beautiful and most talented witch at Hexside. She’s independent and self-sufficient and never hesitates to speak her mind- even if she’s speaking against me. Point is, Amity is the most wonderful person in the entire world and I don’t know what I’d do if she wasn’t a part of my life.

She’s also the stupidest.

I mean, come on. A human?  _ Really? _

Luz the human has got to be the dumbest choice for a crush in the whole world. Amity’s the top student, too- she’s supposed to be smart. It’s literally her  _ job. _ I just don’t get it! Of all the gorgeous, talented witches she knows (me) she had to go with  _ that _ loser to moon after? Ugh. I miss the old Amity. I miss the Amity that would snicker and call out quiet insults whenever the human and the half-witch would walk into the spelling classroom together. I miss the Amity that gave her undivided attention. Her loyalty. Not the… the softie who’s been wandering the hallways glazey-eyed for the past week, her thoughts miles away from the conversation I’m  _ trying _ to hold with her. I don’t get it. She should be thankful for my friendship. I’m helping her uphold the status that comes with her family name. But no, she just  _ ignores _ me, and spends every minute pining after that stupid human who waltzed into Hexside a month ago like she owned the place.

I want that Amity back.

~

When I spot a flash of mint-green out of my peripherals in first-period history, I put down the pen I’d been fidgeting with and absentmindedly tap the spot next to me, inviting Amity to take a seat. I don’t need to  _ ask _ her to sit with me- she always does. I just like reminding her what’s expected of her. (Also, I like being able to look at her. Have I mentioned that she’s super pretty?)

“So?” I singsong as she sets her books down on the table. She’s acting different this morning, more withdrawn. Her shoulders are hunched and it almost looks like she’s trying to shrink in on herself and disappear. It’s quite unbefitting, really. A smirk tugs at my mouth as I realize I know exactly what’s got her all worked up. “How’re you handling the announcement?”

“Just fine,” Amity replies in a way that suggests she is  _ not _ handling the announcement just fine. 

“Are you nervous?”

“Of course not.” Her voice tremors.

I reach out and brush her shoulder, whisking my hand away before she can even process the touch. “I bet you’ll make an amazing Grom Queen.”

She flashes me a confused look out of the corner of her eye and hunches over further. Drawing a hand out of her pocket, she sets a piece of pink folded up paper on the table next to her books. The way she holds it so delicately suggests that it’s very important to her. Could it be…? “What’s that?”

Eyes flashing with alarm, Amity shields the paper from me with her arm. “Nothing.”

“Is that a note? Are you gonna ask someone to Grom?”

Her posture straightens, and her voice shoots up an octave. Now I know for sure she’s lying. Her tell is very obvious. “No!” she squeaks.

“Lemme see it.” I make a grab for the note, but she swipes it before I can reach it. “C’mon,” I plead. “Don’t friends show friends things?”

“It’s private.”

“Can’t be too private for me.”

“It has nothing to do with you.” She looks like she wants to crumple the note up in her hand in frustration, but she clearly thinks better of herself. Her grip eases and she tucks it into her folder.

“What?” I laugh, but to be honest, that stung. A little bit. Not that much, of course, it’s just Amity, after all. “Are you saying you wouldn’t ask me to Grom?”

“This isn’t for you,” she repeats firmly.

She didn’t say no, but my heart sinks anyway.

~

I catch up with Bo, Cat, and Skara after class since Amity is walking really slowly and staring at the ground and just being really broody in general, and I have to tell myself that I don’t want to wait around for her while she angsts about whatever she’s angsting about. “Hey, girlies!” I call once they’re all in earshot.

Skara’s the first to spin around. “Boscha!” she yells. “You will never guess what happened to me before class!”

“Her boyfriend asked her to Grom,” Bo says dryly. 

Skara punches Bo gently on the arm. “I was gonna say that.”

My eyes widen and I look back at Skara. “No way. He did? About time.”

“I know,” gushes Skara. She flashes Bo a glare sharper than daggers. “Too bad I didn’t get to break the news myself.”

“Get over it,” Bo retorts.

“I’m  _ so _ happy for you.” I toss my arm around Skara’s shoulders and pull out my scroll. “Skara-finally-got-asked-out selfie!” I cheer, plastering on my best fake smile. Skara’s looks a lot more genuine in the final photo. I hope my Penstagram followers won’t notice how strained I look. I guess I could always edit it, but then they might not be able to tell how flawlessly I did my lipstick this morning… 

Would Amity be able to tell?

I shake the thought from my mind. Who cares what Amity thinks? Besides, she’d never look that closely at my pictures. She even stopped liking them after the Conjuring… 

_ But that hardly matters, _ I remind myself.  _ In fact, it doesn’t matter at all. _

“Have you gotten asked out yet, Boscha?” Cat prompts, drawing me out of my thoughts. 

_ No, not by anyone who matters. _ “Not yet,” I say cheerfully. “But there’s still plenty of time! I am the prettiest girl at Hexside, after all. Who can resist a looker?” I point at the eye on my forehead as a punchline to my lame joke, and my friends giggle obediently.

Okay, maybe it isn’t entirely true I haven’t been asked by anyone- I’ve been fending off strangers in my DMs for days now. But if the losers at this school are too chicken to ask me out in real life, I’m not going to say yes to them at all.    
They’re not Amity. I’m not interested.

I freeze. Where did that thought even  _ come _ from?

It’s one thing to be sad that Amity’s interested in the human. I’m sad  _ for _ her for having such bad taste. It’s a different thing entirely to be sad that she’s not interested in  _ me  _ specifically _. _

Her bad vibes must have leaked over onto me during history and are muddling my thoughts. Yeah, that must be it. We’re good friends and sometimes our energies combine. Easy to chalk it up to our unbeatable bond. The magic of friendship is a wonderful thing, right? Right?

“Well, if we don’t all get a date, we can still go as a group,” Cat says. “I haven't been asked yet.”

I roll my eyes. “You will be, I’m sure.” After all, I’m the only person in this whole friend group who isn’t dating anyone. I could date someone if I wanted to- there are plenty of classmates vying for my attention all the time, and I don’t blame them. But all the people interested in me are way underneath my standards. Besides, most of them are guys… and I’m not into guys all that much. And by  _ not much _ I mean  _ not at all. _

As I make my way to my next class (math, lucky me) we pass by a specific set of lockers that I’ve been avoiding looking at for the past few days. I’m not a big fan of the graphic displays of stupidity that go on over here, so I’ve made it a habit to avert my eyes when we get near. Today, though- probably thanks to Amity messing up my energy in history- I look up anyway, and I am completely undelighted by what I see. 

She’s leaning up against the side of her locker. Books are lolling out on the locker’s tongue, but she’s making no effort to grab them even though the passing period is supposed to end in about two minutes. Her arms are crossed over her chest, she’s got the pink note in one hand, and her eyes are screwed shut, her mouth open wide in a laugh, showing her fangs. She looks far more relaxed than she did just a few minutes ago. She’s practically bathed in light, and a pale dusting of pink falls over her cheeks and crawls up her adorable ears as she-

I stop in my tracks.

WHERE was my mind coming UP with these things?

_ Especially  _ since Luz the human is standing right there, grinning at Amity like she just told Amity the funniest joke in the world and is incredibly proud of herself. She says something else, leaning a tad closer to Amity as she does so. Amity’s blush grows deeper and she sheepishly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. I prick my ears to try and make out what they’re saying, but I catch only a snippet of it.

“...whatever this Grom Queen business is, I know you’ll do a great job at it! You  _ are _ a queen!” she’s assuring Amity enthusiastically.

Then a shy smile spreads across the human’s features. Her hand darts out and touches Amity’s, and their fingers intertwine for a brief second.

Skara stops beside me. “Boscha? What’s up?”

“Nothing,” I say coldly. But it’s far from nothing. I can feel my face beginning to grow warm with fury. Why is the  _ human _ comforting Amity about being Grom Queen? She doesn’t even know what being Grom Queen entails! That should be me over there with my hand in Amity’s, telling her that everything is gonna be okay because she’s awesome and that stupid fear demon doesn’t stand a chance against a girl like her.

“You’re not getting yourself all worked up about that human again, are you?”

“Obviously not. That human isn’t worth a second thought.”

Skara touches my arm, but immediately flinches away. “Ow! Bosch, your blood is literally boiling. Do you need to go see the healers?”

“No!” I pull away. “Mind your own business.” I hate snapping at Skara- the poor girl is the sweetest thing, and is way nicer than any of my other friends- but the fire that’s slowly growing inside my stomach is too much to keep down. I can’t stand here watching Amity and the human…  _ flirting  _ anymore. I turn around and stalk away without waiting for Skara to catch up to me.

“Wait!” she calls after me. “Boscha-”

I pay her no mind. I keep my eyes on the back of the person in front of me, wait for my feet to carry me to my next class.

Then, after a moment, I realize- Amity had still been holding that note. She hadn’t given it to Luz after all.

Maybe there  _ is _ still hope.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I wasn’t sure I was gonna write this but having an unfinished fic sitting in my works just doesn’t sit right with me 
> 
> Also I absolutely hate reading in first person so I’m sorry I just like writing in boschas voice

I fall into a strange and infuriating routine for the rest of the day, and the rest of the day after that, too, which is Grom, which is  _ just perfect. _ I don’t even hear a peep out of Amity before I arrive at the dance that night on my mom’s staff. I stick my chin up as I enter the school, hoping someone (Amity) will notice how great I look. (Or even just the cool freaking eagle palisman attached to the staff I’m carrying. They could at least notice THAT.)

I rest my staff next to all the others and make my way into the gym. The dance is already in full swing, and fast rock blasts my eardrums. Only a few kids with clearly low levels of social awareness are actually dancing. Most of them are gathered by the bleachers, complementing each others’ outfits, awkwardly flirting in a truly high schooler fashion, and trying to keep their living corsages from biting the skin off their wrists. I guess that’s one bonus of not having a date- I don’t have to deal with those pesky flowers that some dork from the plant track created for undeserved extra credit. 

My crew is standing by the punch table, and when they see me, they wave me over. I shove my way through the crowd in front of them and greet them eagerly. “Hey, witchies! How’s it hanging?”

“Girl, you look stunning! And it’s hanging great,” Skara says. She bats her eyelids at her boyfriend (who’s name I’ve forgotten) but he's staring off into space, probably thinking about how lame Grom actually is in practice. When he doesn’t reply, she clears her throat and nudges him in the side. “I said,  _ isn’t it?” _

“Oh! Yeah.” He snaps out of his stupor. “Great. Very… flashy.”

Skara’s glance swivels to me and lets it linger for a moment. “Boys, am I right?”

Feeling suddenly scrutinized and also a little hot in the face, I force myself to look away. “What do you say we ditch them and go watch the fight?” I ask them. “I’ve heard it’s gonna be a good one. I wonder what Amity’s fear will be. Do you guys think it could have anything to do with accidentally ending up with an inadequate human girlfriend despite the plethora of better options?”

Skara exchanges a glance with Cat and Bo. “Amity’s not gonna date you, Boscha,” she says flatly. 

“What?” I flatten my ears defensively, which I  _ know _ looks ridiculous, okay, I just really do  _ not _ have a good defense mechanism for this sort of situation. What a ridiculous idea? Me… and Amity… dating? Why would I ever want that? I can’t believe Skara has the audacity to suggest that I’d want to be with the prettiest and stupidest witch in all of Hexside.

Cat shrugs. “You’re about as subtle about her as she is about Luz, Boscha. I’m sorry,” she apologizes, “but it’s just not gonna happen. Especially after you spent years bullying her crush’s best friend.”

“Okay, she also spent years bullying her crush’s best friend.”

“But she’s making an effort to change herself. And that’s what’s important.”

Skara smirks. “You didn’t deny that you like her.”

“I didn’t think I’d have to!”

“Let’s not argue,” Bo says breezily. “I think the fight is about to start. We should go find a place to sit- before one of us says something that will literally make Boscha explode.”

~

The fight doesn’t start for another ten minutes, so until then, I’m forced to listen to that little human-obsessed middle schooler Augustus spout off jokes that would be unfunny to anybody even remotely cultured. I can’t help but feel my nerves sizzle the entire time- I’d be worried for Amity whether I like her or not, which I don’t, so it shouldn’t matter anyway. But this is Grom, and Grom is terrifying. I will admit that I’ve spent a good amount of time wondering what Grom would show me if I was selected as the queen. It would probably be something stupid, like losing a Grudgby game to Willow Park, or something else equally unplausable. And just because I’m not scared of anything doesn’t mean Grom isn’t dangerous. Not every kid wins their fight against Grom. I heard that a couple years ago, the Grom King died after that stupid shadow demon turned into a super tall building and threw him off the top. Let’s hope Amity’s greatest fear isn’t death, because… yikes. 

I’m drawn out of my thoughts when Skara nudges me. “It’s about to start!” she whispers excitedly. I don’t say anything, but I turn my attention to the stage and my heart continues to pound.

“You know her, you love her,” Augustus is saying, “you’ve at least heard of her… Luz the human!”

The stands break out into cheering at the same time that I let out a shrill “wait, what?”

and Luz walks nervously in from the side door. She grabs a fancy spiked ball… thing from the weapons rack and descends into the darkness without so much as the briefest second of hesitation. 

“What is she doing down there?” I hiss to Skara. “She’s not the Grom Queen! Amity is!”

“I heard rumors that Luz volunteered to switch with Amity,” Skara whispers back.

My lip curls with disdain.  _ I  _ should be the one protecting Amity, not that dippy human.

“I’m going to go find her.”

“Boscha, wait,” Skara protests. She’s too late, though- I’ve already made up my mind. I stand up and climb down the bleachers before she has time to follow me.

I skirt the pit and depart the gym doors. “Amity?” I call. “Ami- whoops.” My foot catches something and I stumble. From where she’s sitting pressed up against the lockers, Amity lets out an adorable squeak of alarm.

I scowl. “Watch where you’re sitting.”

“What are you doing here?” Amity doesn’t sound particularly happy to see me. I don’t know why. I’m about to save her from a very disastrous decision. I suppose there’s no way she could know that.

“Why aren’t you in the arena? Why aren’t you down there, fighting Grom?”

“Luz offered to switch with me.” She sounds a lot more defensive than she probably should. 

“Why?”

“Because she cares about me. I don’t know why,” she adds under her breath, “but she does, and… she’s just so fearless. She’d do anything for me. I’ve never met anyone so caring, so… so devoted.” She grows wistful, and sighs a sigh worthy of the love interest character in a cheesy romcom. 

“You have it bad,” I remark dryly.

Another sigh. “Yeah. I guess I do.”

“I don’t know why you waste your time with her.”

She snaps to attention, and blinks her wide golden eyes at me incredulously. “What? Why would you say that?”

“Come on. Of everybody you could possibly choose to be head over heels with, why not someone else? I don’t know, maybe an actual witch, for one? Or someone your parents would actually approve of?”

“This isn’t about my parents’ approval!” Amity snaps. “I don’t care what they think. I like Luz because she’s caring and devoted and determined and… and so, so cute.” At this, she blushes, and when she notices that I’m still watching her, her light smile deepens into a frown. “I don’t want anyone but her.”

I don’t like sounding desperate, but I am definitely feeling desperate. “That’s stupid. I don’t understand what you see in her.”

“I  _ just _ told you.”

“But you could totally date any witch you wanted to. You’re smart, you’re pretty, you’re incredible at magic  _ and  _ at grudgby… you’re a catch, Amity. And you choose the human over another witch who’s just as catchy as you.”

“I don’t think you understand.” What she says next slices my heart into pieces, and she doesn’t even warn me first. “It’s not you, Boscha. It will never be you. I don’t know what your whole… deal is, but I will choose Luz over you time and time again. She’s the sweetest and most incredible person I know. She’s not like you. She puts others before herself, and you… other people aren’t even on your radar at all!”

I stare at her, open-mouthed, and before I have a chance to say anything, she stands and heads back into the gym. “I’m going to go cheer Luz on. I’ll see you at school on Monday.”

“Bye,” I growl. Bile rises in my throat. How could she- how could she just betray me like that? Me, Boscha, the most wonderful witch in the-

“Hey, Bosch.”

I take a deep breath before turning around to try and quell the redness in my face. “Yes, Skara?” I say evenly.

Skara purses her lips and rubs her arm awkwardly. “I heard that.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know what it feels like.”

I blink in surprise. “Really?”

Skara nods. “It’s a horrible feeling, isn’t it? Putting your everything into someone else only for them to shoot you down…”

“That sucks. I’m sorry.”

“Anyway.” Skara shakes her head. “I just wanted to come and ask you… I think the fight’s almost over, and…” Suddenly she can’t meet my eyes. Is she  _ nervous? _ “I was wondering if you would… if you would have the first dance with me when it ends?”

The first dance with Skara? I let myself ponder the thought. It’s a strange one, that’s for sure. I’d always pictured myself dancing with Amity. But maybe… 

I allow myself a smile. “I’d like that,” I say gently.

Skara links her arm with mine, and together we re-enter the gym. 


End file.
